Hi. In today's episode, Katy Stoll looks at America's obsession with weight, how social media has made this obsession worse, and how we can be more empatheti...
We would not have to worry about our weight if we lived within a normal food environment. But we don’t. The truth is that our food supply is contanimated and poisoned. There are no other words for it. It’s gotten to the point that it’s not even about the excess of sugar or whatever that is contained in our food - although there is an excess of sugar - it’s about hyper processed, industrialized edible substances which are designed in a lab to overrule our hormonal and neurological pathways that regulate appetite and metabolism.
80 years ago someone might be somewhat overweight, and that balance will start shifting further with age as their body reacts differently to protein and packs on slightly more fat and slightly less lean muscle mass. That reasonable coating of fat compared to everyone else is down to age, genetics, epigenetics, and does confer health benefits. But it was not obesity except for around 1% of the population. It was not widespread non alcoholic fatty liver syndrome or type 2 diabetes. Because in the world of today, once you have enough food to feed your population, the only way to grow a food company is to erode traditional cooking culture and to induce people to overeat. Capitalism is the systemic problem, not the lack of diet and exercise. Or bad parenting for that matter.
So ultimately there are two dimensions to this. On an individual basis it is illogical not to worry about your weight. Just as it is illogical not to worry about becoming addicted to a harmful substance. Because you and your family and friends are under attack by the capitalist mold of our food companies. They create soft, addictive food that prey on the most vulnerable amongst us. And render ALL of us sick. Full on obesity fucks up your joints, your breathing and your heart. But it’s not just a complicating factor, it’s a symptom that not everyone shows. A plurality of thin people are also on the road to fatty liver syndrome and type 2 diabetes. They often just don’t know it.
Whereas on a societal level we require a large political pushback that forces government to deal with the hyper processed menace. Hyper processed goods, sugar, white bread, fruit juice, and so on must all be treated with the same fear as cigarettes and the same respect as alcohol. And it won’t be easy getting there. The food industry lobby is powerful as fuck, global and capable of toppling governments. From what I understand, when the Brazilian government issued the new dietary guidelines, opposition from the food industry was so severe it nearly killed the administration. And what it recommended boiled down to ‘avoid hyper processed goods, use processed goods as part of a meal centered on in natura goods, cook more often and as a part of a family and social experience’.
When we start doing just that, we might not become the thinnest person in our social group. But we have such a better time at life. Once we are free from addiction food is more nourishing, taste better, and all the underlying psychological issues that tie us to that addiction become something we can actually tackle.
You can bet however that there’s a legion of highly paid ghouls whose job is to keep you under lock and chain. The most dangerous words in the english language today are: a calorie is a calorie, and it’s your personal responsibility that you’re fat and sick.
We would not have to worry about our weight if we lived within a normal food environment. But we don’t. The truth is that our food supply is contanimated and poisoned. There are no other words for it. It’s gotten to the point that it’s not even about the excess of sugar or whatever that is contained in our food - although there is an excess of sugar - it’s about hyper processed, industrialized edible substances which are designed in a lab to overrule our hormonal and neurological pathways that regulate appetite and metabolism.
80 years ago someone might be somewhat overweight, and that balance will start shifting further with age as their body reacts differently to protein and packs on slightly more fat and slightly less lean muscle mass. That reasonable coating of fat compared to everyone else is down to age, genetics, epigenetics, and does confer health benefits. But it was not obesity except for around 1% of the population. It was not widespread non alcoholic fatty liver syndrome or type 2 diabetes. Because in the world of today, once you have enough food to feed your population, the only way to grow a food company is to erode traditional cooking culture and to induce people to overeat. Capitalism is the systemic problem, not the lack of diet and exercise. Or bad parenting for that matter.
So ultimately there are two dimensions to this. On an individual basis it is illogical not to worry about your weight. Just as it is illogical not to worry about becoming addicted to a harmful substance. Because you and your family and friends are under attack by the capitalist mold of our food companies. They create soft, addictive food that prey on the most vulnerable amongst us. And render ALL of us sick. Full on obesity fucks up your joints, your breathing and your heart. But it’s not just a complicating factor, it’s a symptom that not everyone shows. A plurality of thin people are also on the road to fatty liver syndrome and type 2 diabetes. They often just don’t know it.
Whereas on a societal level we require a large political pushback that forces government to deal with the hyper processed menace. Hyper processed goods, sugar, white bread, fruit juice, and so on must all be treated with the same fear as cigarettes and the same respect as alcohol. And it won’t be easy getting there. The food industry lobby is powerful as fuck, global and capable of toppling governments. From what I understand, when the Brazilian government issued the new dietary guidelines, opposition from the food industry was so severe it nearly killed the administration. And what it recommended boiled down to ‘avoid hyper processed goods, use processed goods as part of a meal centered on in natura goods, cook more often and as a part of a family and social experience’.
When we start doing just that, we might not become the thinnest person in our social group. But we have such a better time at life. Once we are free from addiction food is more nourishing, taste better, and all the underlying psychological issues that tie us to that addiction become something we can actually tackle.
You can bet however that there’s a legion of highly paid ghouls whose job is to keep you under lock and chain. The most dangerous words in the english language today are: a calorie is a calorie, and it’s your personal responsibility that you’re fat and sick.